8 Easy Steps To Check Your Car’s Engine Oil

Most of folks drive daily for hours but probably don’t know how to check basic parameters of their vehicles, like checking engine oil. Along with driving your vehicle responsibly it is equally important and essential to know how to keep an eye and check on essential maintenance steps; checking the engine oil level included.

A secret tip for all the newbies who are trying to convince their dad to let them drive at an early age: make sure you learn these basic steps to impress your dad because it surely will count.

There is no rocket science in carrying out this process, one just needs to open his/her eyes and be attentive.

1) Park your car on a flat surface and apply brakes.

2) Open the hood, the lever is mostly given under the right hand side of the steering.

3) Locate the dipstick and pull it out. If you find it difficult read the owner’s manual, but most of the time the dipstick is located a bit left from the center of engine.

4) Use a paper towel or a clean rag to wipe the dipstick and insert it back from where you pulled it off.

5) Pull it out again and it’s time to read the oil level. The picture below show safe oil levels and minimum and maximum levels.

6) Also check the oil color too. Dirty engine oil is black or brown where as clean engine oil is golden type.

7) If the engine oil is black, it’s time to change the oil and if it’s clear, you’re good to go.

8) Sometimes the oil looks foamy type which means it is contaminated with the coolant and should be checked by your mechanic because it mostly arises when the gasket fails. I know this because it recently happened to me.

If all these things are clear, your car is ready to rule the streets unless there are some other problems with it.

Black coloured oil is not a parameter of bad engine oil.Change the oil of a diesel and it would be jet black after 50 kms.Best parameter is mileage and time.other parameters are application e.g offroading,city driving,turbochargers and rich air fuel ratio require early oil change.moreover using conventional oils if oil is degrading i.e giving smell of burnt sugar then its degraded and its time to change.colour is very lousy parameter.infact an oil which turns black is good because its doing its job properly.

Thank you for illustrating so well how to check the engine oil. A lot of engines can be saved by following what you have explained in such a simple manner.

Aref Ali

Thank you for your informative comment. Kindly think about writing for PW blog. There are many who will benefit from your knowledge.

Billy

Liqui Moly MOS2 10W40 is black when new- so only being black in color is no merit for oil change

Bilal

really i thought i was cheated i threw it away it was black how can we check if its ready to change then

Ali Talha Khan

Honda city 2007, 180,000 km driven: I used ZIC Hiflo and then migrated to Caltex Havoline 2050 nine months ago but now oil has satrted to reduced after 2000 km. Suggest me what to do about this? JazakAllah kher.

Abdul Hannan

first of all buy oil from reputable place like pump etc…..fake oil has this tendency…..then use same oil as u were using before…….check for bluish exhaust in morning……if present then check wet and dry test of compression……most probably oil is fake

Sabeeh Ur Rehman Tariq

change oil if its black???? ehhh not really, engine oil is meant to go black. Color of engine oil can’t really tell if its bad or good.

Sabeeh Ur Rehman Tariq

stick with what your car’s owner’s manual says mate. I use Liqui moly Mos2 in my car and the drain interval is 10k km.

Sabeeh Ur Rehman Tariq

You can use liqui moly’s oil more then the recommended drain interval for cars in the pakistani market tho. The oils are really good. Just make sure your car is not burning oil. I use the mos2 oil in my alto and I have kept the drain interval at 10k since my car was new. Now its done 125k km and its running perfectly fine, there is no sludge in the engine at all.

Billy

Cant go wrong if you note the mileage and change it after 4-5k kilometers